Alternative Resale Shop

There are a lot of things crammed into this shop and the lighting is a bit dim but it is worth the trouble. The owner seems to know the trends and there issI saw a Jenny Yoo formal for $45 and they had a large selection a

The Alternative Shop on Fifth Avenue shows promise. It has a dense selection of used threads at good prices...including a large selection of rad-looking men's suit jackets (and men's clothing in general).

Sadly, the thrift store is in the midst of a constant identity crisis. Is it a shoe repair shop? Is it a place to buy used wedding dresses? Is it a thrift store? It's all a little confusing. Also, there is so much stuff crammed into the tiny shop, it is tough to make sense of it all.

All that being said, this is still an essential stop on the Fifth Avenue thrift shop hop.

I love this place. It is a real hidden gem. I have bought many nice pieces at really reasonable prices.

I was visiting Columbus and read the reviews about this lovely little shop off of W 5th. A lot of clothing in good condition, along some shoes, purses, accessories and a large selection of bridal gowns and formal attire. Large selection of mens clothing as well. I found a few vintage pieces very reasonably priced. Service was excellent and the woman was so sweet, she gave me suggestions for 3 other vintage shops to check out around Columbus.

This place is truly a gem. I found the store right here on Yelp and I was Immediately impressed with the size store of the, cleanliness, and Melissa's excellent customer service. I was in Columbus on business and I visited the store multiple times and I was impressed with the men's suits, sport coasts, and neck tie selection. Melissa helped me a number of suits, neck ties, sport coats, and shirts. She has an eye for fashion.

This place is listed several times as a business - but because the "Alternative Resale" is also listed as "shoe repair" I'm posting this review twice.

SHOE REPAIR:

A few years ago my mother brought her shoes here to be fixed and asked me to pick them up. I ended up being ignored about 5 minutes while the woman behind the counter stood silently, watching another customer fuss over a dress. When I pointed out that she didn't even acknowledge me and could have politely said "I'll be with you in a minute." OR...after *several* minutes went by, she could have told the other customer "Just a second" (since she wasn't helping her, just watching) and then give me the 45 seconds of assistance I needed.

Needless to say, she became very defensive and began yelling. Her uncle, apparently the owner, then came out and started screaming at me about how her life was difficult and I needed to be understanding. (OH!!) I didn't Yelp about that since...well...I hadn't paid any money. But now it's relevant.

I decided recently to give them another shot. I had a pair of weightlifting shoes whose eyelets were coming out. I pointed to two (of the several) as an example. She seemed to think it was something they could do....charged me $15 and told me to pick them up 9 days later, after 3pm.

9 days later at noon I showed up (completely forgetting the 3pm bit) and was told they wouldn't be ready until after 3. A pain, but my fault for missing the "3pm" bit. My partner came back and picked up my shoes. Later, when I went to put them on the FIRST thing I noticed was that, while he'd done a CRAP job putting an ugly leather patch over the first two eyelets....he didn't even put new eyelets in or reinforce them...so immediately the eyelets popped out.

I immediately took them back and asked him to fix them again.

When I picked up the shoes the NEXT time and went to put them on....I realized there were THREE OTHER eyelets he hadn't even tried to repair. If I bring a shoe in and say "please fix" - I would expect that they would REPAIR the shoe, not just the example-area I show to them.

When I pointed this out, the girl said "You only showed us this part." So essentially I paid $15 for three trips to the shop and a non-fix. I walked out and went straight to Enchanted Shoe Repair where the incredibly nice guy showed me what I SHOULD have paid for, looked over the WHOLE shoe, and is currently fixing ALL of the problems, including the ones the "shoe" guy made.

Store has greatly improved since moving into a nicer building and has a fairly large selection. Staff has always been friendly and helpful.

Alternative Resale offers used/vintage women and men's clothing. They have a small identity crisis... but from what I sorted through, the age group they're targeting is 20's-40's.

Inventory summary
-Wedding gowns!! Seriously, and wedding accessories. I spied a pair of Badgley Mischka shoes behind the counter. I wish I had stopped in here before purchasing my wedding dress. Dresses are anywhere from $99-$200
Womens:
-some casual shirts that are horrendous
-suits $25-$50
-coats
-Evening dresses -- this is where I found the store to excel, a strong section organized by size ranging from cocktail to long gowns
-shoes/purses - selection was a bit lacking
Mens:
-large selection of collared shirts
-impressive selection of blazers and suits
-some shoes

Clothing Consignment Summary
So this is a true consignment, they select items to sell, and you get paid 50% of the selling price after the item has sold.
-bring photo ID
-bring clothes on hangers
They sort through your items, pick what they want to sell (takes about 15 minutes), and send you an inventory list with pricing in the mail. They didn't really seem to care much about the brand/designer as much as the actual style/cuteness of everything. Note, they only consign clothing that is in season, so keep your winter stuff for August (and summer stuff for February). After 30 days, if they haven't sold, they go down 20%, after 60 days, down 50%. Items are sold for 90 days. You can pick up your unsold items then. They mail you checks for amounts greater than $10 monthly between the 15th and 30th.

After scoring some cool dresses across the street at One more Time I ws feeling confident in my thrifting luck and hit this place.
I walked in and immediately started to feel like the walls were crowding in around me.
There is very little light in this shop and the place is crammed with stuff on back to back racks.
The right side is mostly used bride's dresses and the front counter is also a shoe repair shop.
Most of the items in front are arranged by color and feature the newest and cleanest items. This place doesn' seem to picky but if you dig you might find something.
I left with a black Calvin Klein mini black knit dress for only 8 bucks and a whole lot of anxiety.

Do NOT sell anything here. They take months to get you your money, that you have to call and constantly ask for them to send out. I've heard everything from, we don't have stamps, our computer is down, your address was wrong, let me call you back etc etc etc. This has happened both times I have taken things to sell. Never again! Lesson learned.

Still haven't received my money either.